


Catboy Quill

by sharkinterviewee



Series: All that I adore [1]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Acceptance, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But surprise surprise they still love their asshole captain with or without furry ears, Cat Ears, Cat Tails, Cat/Human Hybrids, Catboy Peter Quill, Catboys & Catgirls, Comfort/Angst, Crack Treated Seriously, Cute, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Fantastic Racism, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Hybrids, Identity Reveal, Insecurity, Inspired by Fanart, Love, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Peter is afraid to tell his new family at first, Purring, Romance, Self-Worth Issues, Species reveal, Supportive Gamora, Team as Family, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Touchy-Feely, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, a whole lot of the universe is anti-hybrid, anti-hybrid prejudice, is that a thing?, it should be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-07 00:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18399419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sharkinterviewee/pseuds/sharkinterviewee
Summary: Peter is remarkably good at curling up in places. Gamora actually finds it impressive.Some of the nooks she finds him in are truly... creative, and not conducive to the size of what one would think a full grown man would need.Cats existed on her home planet. It actually explains a lot, when she finds this out about him.The distractibility, spastic bursts of energy, how he can fall asleep anywhere (and she meansanywhere), how he was always drawn to sunlight (when available- specifically to sleep in), his hearing and reflexes that were better than a Terran’s should be, why he always seemed conspicuously attuned to how Rocket was feeling just by nonverbal cues from the Guardians most violent member, why he always seemed to brush past her or bump into her throughout the day, that contact, his general personality- it explained a lot of things.Including the ears and the tail. Those were a dead giveaway.But he usually had those disguised or cloaked by tech.





	Catboy Quill

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Whobahstank](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whobahstank/gifts).



> Inspired by whobahstank's art, which is also where the title comes from
> 
>  

He is remarkably good at curling up in places. Gamora actually finds it impressive.

Some of the nooks she finds him in are truly... creative, and not conducive to the size of what one would think a full grown man would need.

Cats existed on her home planet. It actually explains a lot, when she finds this out about him.

The distractibility, spastic bursts of energy, how he can fall asleep anywhere (and she means _anywhere)_ , how he was always drawn to sunlight (when available- specifically to sleep in), his hearing and reflexes that were better than a Terran’s should be, why he always seemed conspicuously attuned to how Rocket was feeling just by nonverbal cues from the Guardians most violent member, why he always seemed to brush past her or bump into her throughout the day, that contact, his general personality- it explained a lot of things.

Including the ears and the tail. Those were a dead giveaway.

But he usually had those disguised or cloaked by tech.

Another feature of his mask was that it cloaked his ears to the point that when that feature was activated, it was impossible to tell he was different from any normal Terran at all.

Peter revealed it to the team eventually. They already knew he was a hybrid, they just didn’t know that, well, the cat ears and tail were among his… characteristics.

* * *

It was just safer that way.

Peter had learned that as a kid. After he got kidnapped _again_ , taken from the Ravagers by someone unsettlingly similar to the Collector. But Yondu got him back, along with some devices with cloaking tech to hide his rare hybrid nature, so he wouldn’t be targeted again.

It still wasn’t that much safer as an adult. Sure, now he knew his way around a blaster and could handle himself in a fight, but it was still dangerous if anyone were to find out.

The first time the team went to Knowhere- Peter couldn’t wait to leave Tivan’s creepy laboratory as soon as he stepped foot in it. He shuddered to think of what would happen if the Collector ever found out about what he was. Let’s just say becoming one of his specimens wasn’t very high on Peter’s to-do list.

So yeah, it was best to keep it on the down low. To just always have his cat features cloaked, keep walking around like a normal Terran.

* * *

Plus, some parts of the universe didn’t look too kindly on hybrids, and viewed some as worse than others. Apparently, a lot of people thought that Peter’s cross was one of the worst ones. A good portion of the galaxy thought that, honestly. There were whole religions condemning Peter’s existence.

One of the upsides of Ravagers was that they weren’t really one for social norms, so growing up with them was a lot better than it could have been for Peter, all things considered. Sure, it wasn’t exactly a hospitable environment, but he got more shit for being a dumb kid than for being a half-breed. Peter had been in space for a few years before he realized just how reviled his species cross was by a whole shit-ton of people.

Yes, his childhood still sucked, and a large portion of it was fairly traumatic (especially all the threats of eating him when he stopped being useful), but hating hybrids was a cultural norm for most of the galaxy- and an anti-cat cross attitude was practically universal, so there were some perks of being kidnapped by a group of space pirates that didn’t give one shit about social norms.

The Ravagers were more concerned about him earning his keep than Peter’s heritage. Yondu was far from the healthiest parental figure, but at least he didn’t kill Peter on sight, or sell him to a creepy rich guy who had a menagerie of rare, sentient beings locked up in some freaky zoo or some shit.

That was true for all of the Ravagers that Peter grew up with, not just Yondu- they were more concerned about Peter being a dumb shit and screwing up on missions (as he got older) than his hybrid genetics. Being raised on the Eclector wasn’t exactly a good place, but it wasn’t the worst. They kept Peter alive, which is more than 90% of the universe would have done. All the times the Ravagers threatened to kill him, it was because he screwed up, caused some sort of problem, or was just being annoying. Not because he was a hybrid, which is actually saying something.

* * *

Peter still left though, to strike up on his own. He just had to- had to leave. Not like he had much reason to stick around anyway (hey, some good memories and raising him to be a Ravager himself didn't change the fact that they kidnapped him and threatened to eat him, and didn't contradict how it wasn't exactly a friendly environment or whatever. Peter had a complicated relationship with the Ravagers, especially Yondu. Too messy and interwoven to be summed up into a neat box of a single feeling, to be labeled good or bad. It just was).

He couldn't really explain it- why he waited so long, why he stayed, or even why he left when he did.

Something was telling him it was time, and leaving in the way he did, in a way that made sure he could never come back-

He knew he would otherwise. They were all he had. How many times had he worked up the courage over the years to just take off, never come back, good riddance- he didn't need them, he didn't need anyone but himself. And his music.

And hey, he'd been raised to screw everybody over- couldn't quite blame him.

He could make it on his own now. He wasn't a kid anymore, could handle himself in a fight, had cloaking tech to make sure that no one he came across would ever find out he was anything more than an average Terran.

He could do it.

Take the orb, cut ties, and get paid.

The funny thing about best laid plans…

* * *

Then the whole Guardians of the Galaxy thing happened. And Gamora was right- Yondu wasn't the closest thing he had to family, not anymore. Now he had a real family again.

Peter knew it when he felt it, could feel it in his bones when he stepped onto the Milano after saving the galaxy with his team- his friends.

This was home.

It had nothing to do with the ship. It had everything to do with them.

Drax, Gamora, Rocket, Groot- they were what made it home. For the first time in years, he knew, he just _knew_ this is what home felt like.

With his family. Together.

He finally had a family again.

* * *

Peter couldn't let them find out what he was; all the parts of himself he kept hidden away.

The Ravagers not caring he was a cat cross was one thing, but with the Guardians- Peter wasn't so sure.

Sure, they were a team and saved the galaxy together, and every member of the Guardians was an outcast in their own right, but still, he was much too afraid to tell them, to even risk them finding out.

They were too important for him to lose, and as far as Peter was concerned, he could keep hiding his true nature from them indefinitely (or at least try to).

You'd think that after saving the whole universe the second time, he might be more inclined to open up or something. But hell no. They all almost died, _again._ He almost lost all of them, _again._ He wasn't going to risk losing them over something so stupid. If they found out...

It couldn't happen. He wouldn't _let_ it happen.

Really, Peter should've known better, especially since they didn't bat an eye after learning he was a hybrid from the Nova Corps (other than eyes widening in mild curiosity). They didn’t treat him any different, or look at him differently after finding out he was only half human.

After that reaction, he should’ve known that they all would’ve been fine with the whole Catboy Quill thing (yeah, he got that nickname from the Ravagers, of course).

But still. Peter was much too worried about it to tell them- afraid of judgment, of rejection by what had become his family. So he kept it a secret.

* * *

He was particularly worried about what Gamora would think.

Thanos wasn’t just famous for wiping out worlds. He was viciously against hybrids too.

Peter knew that Thanos had wiped out Gamora’s home planet, and killed her family right in front of her. But he also seemed like the kind of guy who would do everything he could to drill in some hybrid hate to the frightened and traumatized children he kidnapped and turned into weapons.

And really, a lot of culture’s weren’t too fond of mixing species- who was he to say that Zehobereis weren’t one of them before…

Or maybe those were just excuses Peter was using for his own insecurities.

His own fear of rejection- that if Gamora didn’t hate him on principle, she just… wouldn’t want him.

Hey, you develop some deep rooted insecurities growing up the way he did with what he was. Stuff that may seem illogical, or just incongruent with what Peter knew about her, but still terrified him to the core.

He was afraid to lose her.

Especially after they’d finally acknowledged the unspoken thing between them, the thing that had been building and felt like it was bubbling out his chest, when he looked at her and smiled, and she smiled back- when she got that soft, soft look in her eyes when she was focused on him. That feeling right there- it felt overflowing. All consuming, but in a good way. Not like being swallowed by darkness (an experience they'd all like to never go through again), more like spreading warmth and light, being wrapped up in something like comfort and belonging and _happiness._ Maybe encompassing was a better word. Yeah. All encompassing.

Peter was just crazy about her, and freakin’ overjoyed by her saying there was something there for her too, something there for _them._

You could say his rejection sensitivity was heightened in such a precarious place, and had him feeling especially vulnerable.

* * *

His plan of never letting them find out didn't really work out either. He didn't really have a good track record with plans, apparently.

And how did they find out? This secret that he swore they'd never know? The one thing that Peter knew he had to keep from them at all cost?

He… he told them. He just told them. Told her. Not because he'd just let it slip, or one of them had started to figure it out or something.

Nope, he just straight up told them one day, for reasons he still couldn't quite explain.

They had nothing going on that day, so it was like might as well, you know? Might as well tell the team you'd been lying to them the whole time- since the day you met- how you held an infinity stone together and saved the galaxy, how they saved the whole universe from your megalomaniacal dad, how she came back for you even though you were totally being a bitch and didn't deserve it, how they helped you through being a complete mess processing the loss of the father figure you weren't quite ready for, how in the aftermath of just the wreck of your life they were there for you and saved you in more ways than one more times than you can count- even after that you still waited this long to tell them you had fucking cat ears and a tail.

Yup. He told them, and showed them too. Had everybody gathered in the main room and disabled the cloaking technology for the first time in their presence. Showed his family what he actually looked like for the first time ever, what he truly was, and anxiously awaited their verdict.

The Guardians didn’t react _at all_ how he was expecting them to.

For the most part, Peter’s confession and reveal was met with casual indifference, which was a million times better than he was expecting, than he was so worried about, and it felt fantastic because they really didn't care. They couldn't care less about the ears and tail cause he was still Peter to them, nothing had changed, the only difference was that their asshole captain looked a bit different than how they first met. It couldn't matter less to them.

Peter's revelation was met with a bored indifference by the crew, and that reaction made him feel so safe and loved because duh, this was his family, of course he had nothing to worry about.

It was great.

* * *

The only team member who didn't react with bored indifference was Gamora.

No, at his reveal, her reaction was one of curiosity, almost childlike and innocent.

“Can I… touch them?” Gamora asked, eyeing his cat ears. She was still, so still, but Peter swore she was almost vibrating, a bundled up energy just below the surface, her big brown eyes wide and rounded.

She seemed like she was trying to hold back, exactly like an excited little kid who was eager to find out more, but also trying to restrain herself, so as not to overwhelm him. She was actually pretty cute (okay, well, Peter always thought she was cute). But something about the hushed bit of eagerness in her tone that she couldn't quite suppress was undeniably cute.

Peter had been sitting on his bed when she came in, but she seemed hesitant to approach him, wavering where she stood and leaning almost imperceptibly towards him, but she didn't come any closer.

Waiting, he realized.

Peter nodded, and Gamora moved in closer, her careful reverence making him feel self conscious, but not in a bad way. In a butterflies in his stomach way.

He dipped his head as she sat down beside him, her fingers moving to his hair, rubbing up from the base of his head, massaging his scalp, warm and reassuring before she even tried to touch the furred, pointed ears sticking out of his hair.

Her fingers drew closer, in little smoothing circles, and she parted his hair, almost like a monkey looking for bugs that she was going to eat, but in reality was just inspecting him, how the ears were connected to his head, like maybe it was a trick and he just glued 'em on or something. When her fingers grazed the orange fur, Peter's ear twitched at the contact.

She made a little noise of surprise, touching them again, and again they reflexively twitched away at the contact pretty hard, once, twice, and Gamora let out a small sound of muffled delight at the reaction.

He seemed more sensitive the lighter she touched, more liable to twitch away when her contact was hesitant and inquisitive.

When she started rubbing the base of his ear, scratching behind it, he stopped twitching away by reflex.

It felt… really good.

Peter started to lean into her subconsciously, and Gamora was glad to see him looking more relaxed, calm again, the tension he'd been holding onto finally seeping out of his muscles. Even his breaths had seemed- not quite rigid, but light and uniformed in a way that belayed his anxiety. But now- it was like the pressure in his lungs had finally eased.

She was relieved herself at the clear relief overtaking him. He looked so worried and nervous before. She liked him this way much better. She never wanted Peter to feel worried because of her. She always wanted to make him feel safe.

At times she doubted how much of a comfort she could possibly be, if she'd ever be able to return the light and brightness he gave out so easily, but now… she seemed to be helping. Helping him feel safe, and that was all she wanted to do right now.

Peter had shut his eyes as his head drifted into her warmth, and as she started scratching behind both of his furred orange ears, Peter let out a low rumble in contentment, vibrating from the center of his chest it seemed.

“ _Oh_ ,” she said, realizing that Peter was purring as she scratched his ears.

Peter's eyes flashed open, startled back into awareness at her hushed exclamation, and his face went pink as he jolted back.

“S-sorry,” he stuttered, pulling away.

“No! It's okay!” Gamora said quickly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and yanking him back into her. Peter practically fell against her, his arm reaching out behind her to catch himself on his bed, and Gamora cradling his head to her chest wasn't doing his blush any favors.

His breathing spiked, heart racing, suddenly being a tangle of limbs with her as Gamora held him close.

“It's okay,” she told him, softer this time, stroking his hair, waiting for the panic to leave him. Her face had fallen beside his, brushing past his cheek and nudging at him, softly, with her nose, her breath ruffling his hair. “It's okay,” Gamora murmured, nuzzling against his temple, and Peter's chest tightened, stomach bottoming out with a sharp twist.

Because she's never done this before… treated him like this. Held him, touched him, comforted him like this.

She's never been this open with her affection before.

Gamora's not really- at expressing stuff. The most she'd said so far about feelings for him was saying that they did have some unspoken thing. And yeah, he got that. He knew she wasn't really the greatest at saying or expressing stuff, knew why she needed them to go slow with whatever thing they were becoming. He got it, he did.

That’s why Peter was always the one to initiate those little instances of physical affection and contact between them. He was always the one asking her to dance with him, teaching her how to spin, pulling her into his arms.

He was always the one to initiate any of those intimate moments between them- with this kind of closeness.

Peter always had to ask her to dance with him. On rare occasions, Gamora grabbed his hand, held it, and gave it a squeeze before dropping it.

Gamora never asked to touch him. She never asked for permission to initiate physical contact, she never reached out first.

Peter always had to pull her into dancing with him.

Gamora had never pulled him into her arms before. She'd never held him like this before.

She'd never been so soft, so open with her affection before. He kinda wanted to cry.

Peter buried his head into her shirt, and Gamora kept threading her fingers through his hair, rubbing his back, keeping him safe in her warm embrace.

“It's okay, Peter. It's okay. It's okay.”

* * *

Gamora couldn't get over how cute he was.

Okay, Peter's always been cute (not that she'd care to admit that), but when he started walking around the ship more with his ears and tail showing, it's like deadly levels of cute.

She was definitely drawn to those furry little ears of his, always scratching behind them and making him blush.

She loved how much he blushed every time she gave him those furry little scritches, how much he clearly loved it, even though he was way too embarrassed to admit it.

So adorable it wasn't even fair.

* * *

Eventually Peter approached her with the question- why she touched his ears so much, why she'd gotten much more touchy feely with him since he revealed his cat nature. He was almost afraid to ask. And don't get him wrong, he liked it, he really liked it, he just didn't understand it. Didn't know if it was something that should worry him or not.

Gamora pursed her lips. “You are just, you're cute,” she told him, almost pouting. She wasn't particularly good at admitting mushy things and feelings, but Peter just looked so insecure when he approached her with the question, his tail wrapping around himself protectively. And she couldn't let that go on, him holding himself like that, thinking something might be wrong, like it was something with him. When in reality it was everything to do with him, but really good, mushy, disgustingly sentimental feelings on her part regarding- just him in general. She wasn't very good at being open (she was learning), but there was no way she could let him go on thinking it was something _bad._

“You’re cute when you're walking around looking like a normal Terran,” she informed him, “But when you have your furry ears out? I always have this squeal building up right here in my throat,” she said, elongating her neck and dragging her finger down the front of it, where she could physically feel the squeal that threatened to escape at the sight of him. “Just because you are so cute.”

Peter actually blushed at that. Partly because of all the times she just called him cute, and partly because she stepped up awful close to reveal her neck to him, exposing her throat in a way that made his skin flush.

She stepped back slightly. “Is that… okay?” She asked, regarding him with an air of caution. It took him a second to realize she was asking if he was okay with her saying all that stuff to him just now.

His cheeks burned even more, the heat creeping down his neck. “Don't think I'm gonna object to you calling me cute in any state,” Peter dipped his head, scratching the back of his neck, honestly loving it right now.

Gamora smiled. “Good. And I do not squeal, Peter Quill. But you make it very hard not to.”

* * *

Peter wasn't unfamiliar with the ‘seeing something so cute you have to squeal at it’ feeling. Hell, he's squealed at baby Groot countless times, cause li'l dude was goddamn adorable.

And whenever looking at a furry puppy dog like creature, the urge to pet it and hold it and love it and smoosh its face up real close was nigh overwhelming- he wasn't sure if that was just a Terran reaction to cute things, or if the others just had more restraint than him.

Gamora said he'd always been cute, even when he was just walking around like a normal human (though she's never _called_ him cute before, least not to his face). But with his cat features uncloaked, he apparently graduated up to ‘oh my god, so cute I have to touch it levels’. He felt all weird and warm and tingly in his chest just thinking about it. Smiley too.

* * *

Also, he had a feeling that some of it was just like an acceptance thing. Gamora being more open. Cause she lived in the same universe he did, certainly knew why he was afraid his family would reject him because of his hybrid genetics, because of the whole catboy thing.

She knew how… how people like him were often viewed. Judged. Cast out. Abandoned. Feared. Hated.

She knew the reaction that 85-90% of the galaxy had to Peter's cross, she knew why he hid it for so long, why he kept it a secret even from the Guardians. She wasn't unaware of what exactly that usually meant for him, people _knowing._

She knew.

And he was certain that if it was any other secret, she still would have restrained herself from… expressing herself like this. Would've held back.

But because she knew what he'd experienced, what he had been expecting, the sense of isolation and the worry still in his eyes, that feeling of unlovableness- of waiting for the other shoe to drop, of the others realizing he doesn't deserve this closeness-

That's why. Her full heartedly embracing it, embracing him. Why she actually calls him cute now, even though for the majority of the time he knew her she never would've admitted that she found him cute even under torture.

Why she touched him more often- not just his ears, but him in general. His shoulders, ruffling his hair, leaning over him in his chair to get a better look at something, laying her head on his shoulder when she was tired, brushing his arm with hers, her fingers grazing his lower back as she pointed something out to him, directed his attention elsewhere while her touch lingered.

Why she was always soft and gentle and smiling and affectionate when she _did_ touch his ears. Why she was more open with him with her words and her feelings, expressing more verbal and physical affection with him after his secret came out.

She didn't use to hold his hand so much, because even though she wanted to, she always held herself back. She always had self restraint, and kept herself in line. She _used_ to.

She didn't do that anymore.

Because she prioritized giving him acceptance over any aversion to being vulnerable with another person that she had.

And more than anything, Gamora just made him feel… loved.

* * *

She liked it. How he only used the cloaking tech when they left the ship now. She loved that he was comfortable enough to be himself with his family 24/7 now. That he wasn't ashamed, didn't feel the need to hide. She loved that his natural state was now his normal state with the Guardians.

And she loved how cute her catboy boyfriend was. So, so cute. Just the cutest thing in the world. Seriously, it should be a crime for anything to be as cute as he was. Totally illegal.

* * *

Now it’s quite normal to find Peter curled up and napping in small random places across the ship, his tail out and swishing in his sleep. He always starts purring when she goes for his weak spots behind the ears, often not even waking up as he starts making those low rumbles that always make her grin.

It’s still weird the places she finds him in sometimes. He… likes to be up high, pretty often. That wasn’t too surprising, considering how his favorite sleeping spot was a hammock hanging from the ceiling. But she’s found him in some seriously weird places that she _swears_ can’t be comfortable- his body is still mostly humanoid after all, so how the hell is he just fine curling up on his side in the back of the storage shelves? Not even on like a pillow or towel or something, just the hard, flat surface of the shelves, and he’s totally fine there.

She found him on top of a cabinet once. She wasn’t looking for him (lord knows he disappeared around the ship all the time, she knew he’d turn up sooner or later, a few hours at most, because he still had secret spots he kinda accidentally on purpose fell asleep in). She’s not talking about the low cabinets in the bathroom, or the cupboards in the closet. No, the high kitchen cabinets, above the counters and the sink, the ones that almost went to the ceiling with a space between the top that she supposed was there for extra storage, but the Guardians just kept empty (if they stored anything up there, there would be a lot of crashing and breaking every time they got in a space battle).

Well, the Guardians _usually_ kept the space empty. More on that in a moment.

Gamora was searching in the cupboards for a spice because little Groot was driving her up the wall, refusing to eat his stores that had the _nutrients he needed to grow_ (she tried to explain to him, still he refused), and even though he was fine with how they tasted last week, now he felt like being a picky eater, so she was searching for that sugary spice so she could just dump it on the special plant-based life form nutrient stores so he would just swallow it and be done with it.

Yes, she knew that long term, this probably wasn’t the best care-taking strategy when it came to kids and picky eating, but it was a learning curve for all of them when it came to their family’s tree child, and hopefully next week he would be back to eating it with no problem.

She scoured through the cabinet next to the refrigerator, but the problem was, the Guardians didn’t exactly keep anything organized in an even semi-orderly fashion, so all the spices, snacks, bars, stores, and random food stuff was just haphazardly shoved in the kitchen cabinets wherever was convenient- no system for it.

She was about to maybe slam the cupboard closed in frustration when something (luckily) caught her eye. A little blur of movement above her head, at the top of the cabinet. She paused- _no way. Was that really-?_

She left the cabinet open and took a few steps back- more than a few steps, actually. She had to practically stand against the adjacent wall (they were on a spaceship of course, so cramped rooms were just a fact of life) to see enough of it and confirm that yes- that really was Peter sleeping on top of the cabinet, wedged in the space between the ceiling and the wall, just the last inch or two of his tail dangling down, that she had almost slammed the cabinet door on. How the hell did he get up there? Did he use a chair?

She looked around- there was no stepping stool or chair or object that he could have climbed on in sight, and their cramped kitchen wasn’t set up in a way that would make parkouring onto the top of the fridge or cabinets an easy feat. How in the hell?

She blinked, shaking her head, momentarily brought out of her frustrated state and huffing out a little breath of laughter cause it was utterly ridiculous.

She considered just leaving the cabinet open, but then someone else might close it and shut it on his tail (if it didn’t shut on its own, they were mid space flight after all) so she grabbed a some sort of packaged meat stick (more like a meat wedge, to be honest) out of the cabinet and used it to nudge his tail out of the way and back onto the top of the cabinet so it would be safe. And, when she went to put the meatstick back on the shelf- what did she find? The spice that had been hiding behind it apparently (though she swore she looked, she was certain of it). Gamora rolled her eyes, cause figured. She quietly switched out the items, checking the top of the cabinet for any orange fur sticking down before she gently eased it shut, sugar spice in hand, smiling as she turned to go face the surly tree who gave their captain a run for his money when it came to whining.

* * *

One of the things about being a Guardian of the Galaxy- in their daily life, it was pretty on and off. Sometimes it was high risk missions with lots of running and shooting, space battles and fighting, maybe saving the galaxy every once in a while. Sometimes it was jobs with little to no danger at all, hired as extra security for an overcautious noble traveling through less than friendly space, acting as escorts or even transporting some questionable and maybe less than strictly legal cargo or otherwise contraband items through an embargo- smuggling things for the right fee or the right cause. Just jobs that might be boring or time consuming, but got the bills paid. Sometimes it was just being bored traveling in space between the missions and job postings they had accepted.

Their daily life- when it wasn’t in danger, had a surprising amount of downtime.

That’s where she found herself that day- bored, with nothing really to do, so might as well sit down and relax.

Gamora had pulled out one of her new books- she had gotten herself several lately, books with actual physical pages made from paper. They were an indulgence that she never would have been allowed in her previous life. But now she could actually spoil herself- buying herself little comforts that were completely superfluous just because she _wanted_ them. Technically they did live on a ship with a finite amount of space, so it would have been more reasonable to have procured digital copies. But these were the allowances she could actually grant herself now, and didn’t have to feel bad or guilty about getting something completely unnecessary for herself just because she liked it. She never really had items that were just- well, nonfunctional items. For enjoyment. But she was getting used to it. Peter had his walkman and mixtapes, his Terran baubles, trinkets or ‘cool things’ he’d picked up from here and there. And Gamora had a small, growing collection of physical books- hardbound covers and paper pages brimming with words. She’d even bought a blank one, recently. One meant for personal writing- a journal, diary, with no lines but pages upon pages of creamy emptiness waiting to be filled. She hadn’t put a mark in it yet, didn’t want to ruin it in its pristine perfection, but she was certain that eventually she’d find something she deemed worthy of putting to ink. For now, though, she had several new books to read.

Gamora smiled down, turning the page. She was already a few chapters into this one, nestled quite comfortably on the end of the couch, her legs pulled up and tucked underneath her, all warm and comfy.

She dropped her hand back down, brushing Peter’s hair before her fingers returned to their earlier movement. Her boyfriend was curled up beside her and taking a nap, his head in her lap and purring as she scratched him behind his pointy ears, his tail swishing in contentment.

Everything about her life was just warm and soft, including the man sleeping beside her. She liked the hard parts of life- the dangerous missions, saving people, helping those who no one else could. But she was also fond of these soft moments too, a large portion of which she owed to Peter. He always made her feel safe and loved. She was glad she could do the same for him.

 

**Author's Note:**

> because I couldn’t make something inspired by whobahstank’s artwork and just not write something explicit, this work will be part of a series, that I have at least three more works planned. Number two and four will be smutty, and number 3 will be like fluff and cute stuff rated T like this first one.


End file.
